Thursday, December 14, 2006

Christmas is almost here and baseball is still 4 months away, but the Red Sox are still the talk of Boston, especially with the signing of DaisukeMatzusaka. Here are a few quick notes about the Sox:D-Mat's Here!: Boston is buzzing with excitement over the signing of Matzusaka, who is being compared already to Pedro Martinez, before he's even thrown one pitch in the States. His flight from LA to Boston was tracked online and he was greeted by media and fans when he got to the airport. Today almost 100 media members, including about 50 from Japan are in the city for D-Mat's first Boston press conference. Tonight he drops the puck at the Bruins game, it will be interesting to see the reaction he gets.

Mirabelli is back too: The Sox made their second biggest signing of the off-season, resiging back-up catcher Doug Mirabelli, who will again catch every five days for Tim Wakefield. No matter what, Jason Varitek has to stay healthy this year, we can't deal with Mirabelli as the regular catcher.

Rocket's Red Glare?: All Dan wants for Christmas is Brian Leetch, but while Leetch back in Rangers' blue would be nice, I want to see Roger Clemens back for the Red Sox. Its time for him to stop teasing Sox fans and come back for a final go. Schilling, Clemens, D-Mat, Beckett, Wakefield, that would be the perfect gift. Jon Papelbon can close again, settling that issue.

Monday, December 11, 2006

Tonight one of the most intriguing matchups in the NHL this season took place, as the Washington Capitals, led by Russian phenomn Alexander Ovechkin took on the Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby, the new face of the NHL.

Hockey normally does not get a prominent place on ESPN.com, but today it was one of the top stories. If the NHL is ever going to become popular again in America, it will take players like Crosby, and his Pittsburgh pals, Evengi Malkin (left), Jordan Staal, and Marc-Andre Fleury, as well as Ovechkin.

The Penguins are having unexpected success and Crosby is leading all NHL players in All Star votes, proving that he is already the most popular player in the NHL. Crosby and Malkin, who each scored goals, led the Penguins to a thrilling 5-4 victory over the Capitals. The only problem is, not many could see it. In the pre-lockout days of the NHL, this game would have been on ESPN and the NHL could have promoted it well. But for now, the only wau to follow a game like this is through a post game article on ESPN and maybe a few brief clips on ESPN.

The NHL has the players and a new style to build it back up to a prime spot in America, but it will take awhile. No matter what, I will be looking forward to more battles between Ovechkin and Crosby.